Most of our modern-day gadgets are swathed in plastic or other high-tech materials[2], and why wouldn’t they be? Plastic[3] is both cheap and easy to produce. But English Russia[4]‘s display of wooden[5]gadgets[6] shows that sometimes the most elegant items are the simplest.

As you might suspect, wood-covered devices[7] don’t come cheap and never have. According to English Russia[8], wood-covered clocks[9] were popular in the 19th century among Russian Tzars and other well-off members of society. Few of the clocks survived the Russian Revolution and the Communist reign, and those that did are available in antique[10] shops for the steep price of $20,000. That hefty price tag still applies today and is likely the reason many wood craftsmen have given up their trade or reverted to other materials.

Quality wood [11]is usually reserved for construction[12] works, so its hard to find top-notch lumber for, say, a wood-covered computer[13] mouse. But we imagine if more electronic items [14]were covered in wood, users would be less likely to toss them in the trash[15]. Instead, we’d just return a product when it reached the end of its lifecycle[16], wait to see how nimble-fingered artisans reused the material to elevate the next tech trend and be grateful that the craft[17] of woodworking had lived to see another day.